LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Trainer George Weaver handicapped the weather perfectly when laying out his final workout plans for his Kentucky Oaks candidate Five G. Choosing instead to complete her preparations in South Florida at Palm Beach Downs, rather than dodging raindrops and dealing with a wet racetrack like so many of his colleagues were forced to do Friday and likely Saturday at Churchill Downs.
Five G breezed four furlongs in 49.60 seconds per Weaver on Thursday morning in relative anonymity at her winter home before boarding a van for a soggy Louisville the following morning.
“I was really pleased with her work, she did it easily. It was really more of a maintenance breeze after I put her in behind another horse and worked her five furlongs in 1:01.20 last week,” said Weaver who trains the homebred daughter of Vekoma for Gatsas Stables.
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Five G will enter the Oaks having won three of her six starts including the Grade 2 Gulfstream Park Oaks on March 29. She was the 6-5 favorite that day and won in gate-to-wire fashion by 2 1/2 lengths over Anna’s Promise, who was nearly a pole in front of the rest of the field.
“She’s a fit horse and ready to go,” Weaver enthused. “She’s been training extremely well and her speed figures say she fits with any of them. I realize there is plenty of other speed in the field, but that doesn’t really concern me at all with her.”
Manny Franco, who was aboard Five G for the first time in the Gulfstream Oaks, will have the call once again in the Kentucky Oaks.
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